Every successful
team needs three vital elements: a high level of skilled, gifted and determined
players to execute that skill, backed up with a sound game plan.

Shiv
Jagday (coach of the USA Men’s team) discusses the subject.

INTRODUCTION

THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE
FOR BASIC skills; without a high skill level, no matter how good a game
plan a team has, the chances of winning are bleak. The same is also true
regarding tactics: a high level of basic and advanced skills will not
succeed if the game plan is weak.

"THE
HISTORY OF WAR PROVES THAT TACTICS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN WINNING
BATTLES. THE SAME APPLIES TO FOOTBALL MATCHES. HERE, T00, ONE MUST CONSIDER
THE OPPORTUNITIES OF BOTH SIDES. AND WHEN BOTH SIDES ARE OF EQUAL STRENGTH,
IT IS THE SIDE WITH THE BETTER TACTICS WHICH WILL WIN."

Ferenc Puskas

"THE
ENEMY ADVANCES, WE RETREAT; THE ENEMY CAMPS, WE HARASS; THE ENEMY TIRES,
WE ATTACK; THE ENEMY RETREATS, WE PURSUE."

This quotation from
Chairman Mao was hung in the locker room of England's 1966 World Cup soccer
team. (England won that competition for the first and only time in 1966.)

If this is true in
both war and soccer, then why not also in hockey? On this very philosophy
the Great Britain hockey team played under the guidance of the manager,
Roger Self, and coach, David Whitaker to win the 1988 Seoul Olympic hockey
gold medal.

European teams very
much apply these concepts to dominate the world of hockey. No wonder all
three men's medal-winning teams at the 1998 Utrecht World Cup were European
sides, and two of the women's teams too, were from Europe, only Australia
being able to break that mould.

TACTICS
AND STRATEGY

The definition of
tactics and strategy, according to Dr G. R. Gowan, president of the Coaching
Association of Canada, is

Strategy - can
be defined as the pre-game decisions based upon known strength of one's
own team and/or knowledge of the opposition.

Tactics - are
changes in original plans that are required because of events occurring
during the game.

Strategy is the overall
game plan and tactics are the execution or implementation of it. Since
the 1970s the use of match video tapes has been a much-used tool in coaching.
Their use has increased tremendously in the '90s. Almost every international
team travels with its own video equipment to tape their matches, and their
opponents, and later review them. Coaches view and analyse the tapes to
design their game plans and prepare their teams for the next match and
future competitions.

ELEMENTS
OF TACTICS

Here are some elements
of tactics and strategy that can be incorporated into any game plan, depending
on the strength or weakness of the opponents.

1.
SURPRISE

The surprise element
as a tactic is a very effective weapon. It hits the enemy very hard, leaving
him shocked, frustrated, and helpless. Surprise can even have a devastating
psychological effect and create confusion.

Pakistan were famous
for their attacking style of play. The Australians were the stronger team
on paper coming into the tournament, and were ranked number one, and favourites
to win the gold medals.

Pakistan changed their
game plan. They focused on Safety First. They played a packed defence,
absorbing the attacks and then catching the Australians with counter attacks.
They were successful in implementing this plan, as this was the first
time - as far as I can remember - that Pakistan played so defensively
from the beginning.

The surprise element
was packed defence.

Even up to today,
Richard Aggiss, then the Australian Olympic team coach and now an FIH
Master Coach, shakes his head in disbelief. He has every reason, because
his team was star-studded and seemed the very best in the world during
that summer of 1984.

Most recently, France
did this to Brazil in the France '98 soccer World Cup final, thrashing
the Brazilians 3-0.

2.
SPEED OF EXECUTION

The speed of executing
an attack can have a nerve shattering effect on an opposing team.

For example, the scoring
of an equaliser, just after opponents have taken the lead, or retaking
the lead after opponents have equalised. The key factor is speed of execution.
Do you recall the match between India and Germany in the 1985 Champions
Trophy? The score was 6-6 and India scored five goals in the last eight
minutes.

In both examples the
speed of execution caught the opponents napping.

These days lots of
goals are scored on counter attacks, after a penalty comer breaks down
or following an offensive free hit out of the circle.

The
photographs [#1], [#2], [#3] say it all.
They are from the Men's Semi-Final, Australia v Netherlands, 1998
Utrecht World Cup. The Dutch did not score from this particular situation.
But in 1994, at the Sydney World Cup, in the pool match between Australia
and Pakistan, Australia had a similar free hit just outside the Pakistan
circle which was intercepted and moved onto Pakistan's Shahbaz who then
executed his famous run with Australia's Ken Wark chasing him. Shahbaz
drew a covering defender and reverse-sticked the ball to Kamran Ashraf,
who scored. It was after this run that Shahbaz pulled his hamstring.

3.
NUMERICAL ADVANTAGE

Both teams have an
equal number of players - eleven each. The team which can gain a numerical
advantage in a particular zone of the field, over and over again during
the run of play, can harvest rich dividends by creating 2 on 1 and 3 on
2 situations.

For an example, take
a team playing man for man marking. It is not impossible for a forward
to take his marker out of the danger zone by vacating the zone himself.
This creates a space for a deep defender to come through and create a
numerical advantage. This has been discussed in detail in previous articles
on Space and Time.

4.
PACE

This element of strategy
can be applied to one's advantage, depending on the team's strength. The
pace can be set accordingly.

For example Australia
and Pakistan, with speedy and skillfulforwards, normally set a
fast pace with penetrating attacks. A team like Germany, with a strong
defence, can slow the pace, tiring the fast forwards and catching out
their opposition with counter attacks.

An example occurred
in the 1986 London World Cup when Germany played Australia in the pool.
It was the only game in the tournament that Australia drew. Germany controlled
the pace and was leading 2-1 at one time.

Another example was
in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Germany was playing India and needed
only a draw to make the semi-finals. They slowed the game to a snail's
pace, frustrating the Indian side and the final score was 0-0. Germany
won their semi-final and finished with the silver medal.

A third example came
in the 1998 Utrecht World Cup when Spain played Germany in the semi-final.
Spain beat Germany 3-0 and shocked the world. Their tactic in the second
half was to play a packed defence and control the pace.

5.
CHANGE OF STRATEGY

Depending on the state
of play, the game plan can be changed. In the final of the 1986 World
Cup in London Australia were leading England 2-0 at half time. They played
defensively in the second half and finished winners by 2-1. Richard Aggiss
told me afterwards: "we had practiced playing defensively back home. It
sure helped."

In the 1982 and 1986
soccer World Cups the German soccer team had deliberately played goal-less
games against weaker opposition during pool matches in order to 'choose'
the opponents they might meet in the quarter-finals. Germany won the silver
medals in both of those World Cups, and gold in 1990 under coach Franz
Beckenbauer.

6.
EXPLOITATION

When you find a weak
link in your opponents' defence exploit it by putting your best forward
against the weak player.

If, say, the left
half is a poor tackler, put your fastest right finger against him and
generate your attacks from there.

Perhaps a right half
has a habit of attacking too much. Encourage him to attack and then catch
him off guard by passing to the left winger quickly when he is up field.

Some players are uncomfortable
receiving the ball in the air. Make sure that he receives some aerial
passes in his zone and try to force him into making an error.

An example from the
1971Barcelona World Cup involved Pakistan v India in the semi-final,
a match that Pakistan won 2-1.

India was leading
by a single goal in the second half. Vinod Kumar, the Indian right back,
had difficulty in receiving and controlling an aerial ball. Pakistan recognized
the weakness. They exploited it by throwing a number of aerial balls onto
Vinod. In one of the situations when Vinod missed the ball the Pakistan
centre forward, Rashid, picked it up and scored the equaliser. Later Pakistan
converted a short corner to win that first World Cup.

7.
MARKING

This has been discussed
in a previous article.

8.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TACTICS

In competition, teams
play different types of mind games. This is done simply to psyche out
their opponents.

These are some examples:

i) Intimitation

A good
example is how Carsten Fischer of Germany commanded respect in the defence
with his hard-hitting style. Everyone gave him respect allowing him time
and space to control the deep defensive area.

ii) Moving as a
team

Team goes everywhere
together in the same colour tracksuits or dress -- just to create a powerful
impression.

There, are some
unsportsmanlike practices which are put forward by some coaches. We feel
that they should be outlined for information although it is to be hoped
that teams will always play in a sporting manner and notresort
to these unfortunate tactics.

Following are unsportsmanlike:

A.
DECEPTION

Watch out! This can
be done in several ways and is aimed to give opponents a false sense
of security. For example, a player can unsportingly fake an injury
by taping his thigh heavily before a match. The effect can be added to
by the management and teammates spreading a rumour that the player has
a pulled muscle.

A deception can also
be achieved by falsely positioning the players at the start of the game
so setting a fake system.

B.
TIME-WASTING TACTICS

If opponents are getting
on top, their rhythm can be broken by faking injuries, another regrettable
practice.

In the 1980s, one
could see many of the teams faking injuries, especially in a close game
that they might be leading by a single goal with only a few minutes to
go. A faked injury helped them to take a water break, gain a momentary
rest, and so break the flow of the attack.

Psychologically time
wasting can upset the opponents and is a good pace-controlling tactic.
However, don't expect to get away with it in today's game. Umpires are
wise to the tactic and don't allow the game to be stopped for treatment
if they are not satisfied that the injury is genuine.

C.
CHEAP TRICKS

These schoolboy pranks
are intended to upset teams so that they lose their cool and are not able
to concentrate and focus to their optimum levels.

For example: 'ghost'
telephone calls at night; giving odd hours of practice to participating
teams, either early in the morning or late at night. Most teams will be
wise to them.

D.
DIRTY TACTICS

We see deliberate
fouls outside the 25 in almost all international matches. It is done so
tactfully that it appears to be just by chance, but the rhythm of the
attack is broken, team-mates are given time to recover and regroup and
pack their defence again. Again, don't expect to get away with it. Good
umpires will punish these deliberate infringements which are against the
spirit of the game.

E.
PSYCHOLOGICAL

i) Eye Contact
Look straight into the eyes of an opponent, giving him a deadly stare
- just to scare or upset him. It is childish and rarely works.

ii) Opponents'
Territory Warming up in the opponents' half, just before a game, just
to irritate them. However, you may not get away with it at a top tournament.
Pitch officials will warn you.

iii) Ignore opponent
On some occasions, ignoring can be very effective in annoying opponents,
especially if they are of a young age. I remember an incident where one
of the teams I coached became a victim of this sabotage. We were touring
Germany, and were in Limburg in May 1984 to play a Test match against
the German national team.

In the team meeting
two young players expressed their anger against the Germans. They explained
how they had been ignored by them at the reception; further, they explained
how they would teach the arrogant Germans a lesson in the next day's Test
match. They were sure they were going to beat them. I well remember the
two young players who spoke loudest at the meeting both played poorly.
They were totally psyched out. I had to substitute them as they had put
unnecessary pressure on themselves and became over-excited and frustrated.
Was this a deliberate move by the experienced German players?

CONCLUSION

It is very important
to recognise what you know and to be aware of what you don't know. Never
confuse the two.

To go a step further,
to know is one thing and to be able to execute what you know is something
else, especially under a pressure-cooker game situation.

As a coach you should
study the athletes on your team, be aware of their strengths and weaknesses,
both individually and as a team. This also applies to the opponents.

Design a simple, effective
game plan. Explain it effectively with simple drawing on a black-board.
Keep in mind these few tactical and strategical concepts.